SUGAR BABIES is a compelling documentary (in the final stage of production) that examines the public heath epidemic of diabetic children in America. Diabetes may be the most misunderstood disease in the world – in part because it is really two diseases, type 1 and type 2. What they have in common is that they are both on the rise, they are both costly, and they are both exacting a huge toll on our children. There can be no adequate response to the problem until diabetes in all its forms is understood, and the implications of this epidemic are addressed.
SUGAR BABIES tells the story of both types of diabetes--the ancient autoimmune disease now called type 1, which must be treated with insulin, and the more modern disease now called type 2, which can be treated by behavioral changes such as weight loss, healthy eating, and active lifestyles.
SUGAR BABIES explains the stakes, reveals the impact on its most vulnerable victims, and sounds an alarm that cannot be ignored. The film intimately follows five patient stories, while clinicians and health experts help us understand how we got here and where we need to go.
With Academy Award-winning producer Geralyn Dreyfous and New York Times best-selling author Jim Hirsch on board, we know great things are in store for this film.
Please know that every dollar helps us get closer to the finish line!
PROJECT STAGE
We are in the final month of production and will continue editing the film through the summer. We plan to send a promotional trailer to broadcast venues over the next few months, in hopes of finding a broadcast partner early in the post-production process. We will be submitting to top film festivals in the late fall in hopes for an early 2013 premier.
COMMUNITY OUTREACH and ENGAGEMENT
SUGAR BABIES is a character-driven exposé-style documentary set against the backdrop of our current public health crisis. Fast paced, entertaining, and eye opening, the film will have a big festival run while we shop for a broadcast partner, and also be used by community groups, schools, and non-profits to raise awareness about diabetes and to implement solutions. SUGAR BABIES is a call to action to create individual, community, and legislative changes.
HOW YOUR MONEY WILL HELP
We will use our Indiegogo campaign money to finish production with 9 or 10 days left of shooting. Our immediate costs include camera, lighting, and sound equipment rentals, our crew, as well as 12 more weeks of editing to make our rough cut into a fine cut. We are also working with a wonderful composer to create an original score for our film.
CAN WE RAISE MORE THAN 40K?
We certainly can, and we hope that we do! If we do, we will use the money to pay for a sound mix, and then work on our outreach and education campaign.
CAN YOU DONATE IN HONOR OF SOMEONE ELSE?
Yes, and we hope that many of you will donate in honor of someone you know impacted by the disease. If you choose to do so, shoot us an email at jenny@jennymackenziefilms.com and we will take care of sending a card to the person you are honoring, and letting them know. We will also include their name on our website donor page.
MORE about THE CREATIVE TEAM:
Director/producer Jenny Mackenzie, Ph.D. is an award winning documentary filmmaker whose mission is to produce films that create and promote social change. Her film, KICK LIKE A GIRL, aired on HBO, played at over 70 international film festivals and is currently being used by the US State Department to discuss gender equity globally. As a clinician, researcher, former non-profit administrator, and mother of three, Jenny also uses her professional experience, humor, and real life passion to address the power of social impact film making as a motivational speaker.
Jenny understands diabetes personally because three generations in her family – her aunt, her brother, and her 14-year-old daughter – all have type 1.She has a BA from Brown University, an MSW from Simmons College, and a Ph.D. from the University of Utah.
Executive Producer, Geralyn White Dreyfous has a wide background in the arts and philanthropy. She founded the Philanthropic Initiative in Boston, which guides families of wealth in strategic giving opportunities, and co-taught documentary writing at Harvard University. Geralyn is also the Founder/ Board Chair of the Utah Film Center and a charter member of the Utah Coalition for Film and Media. In 2007, she co-founded Impact Partners Film Fund with Dan Cogan. Impact Partners (IP) brings together financiers and filmmakers so that, together, they can create great films that entertain audiences, enrich lives, and ignite social change. Since its inception more than four years ago, IP has been involved in the financing of over 25 films, including: The Cove, which won the 2010 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature; The Garden, which was nominated for the 2009 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature; Freeheld, which won the 2008 Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Film; The Ghosts of Abu Ghraib, which won the 2007 Emmy Award for Best Documentary Special; and Hell and Back Again, which was nominated for the 2012 Academy Award for Documentary Feature. Geralyn's executive producing and producing credits include Academy Award winning Born Into Brothels; Emmy nominated The Day My God Died; and multiple film festivals winners such as Kick Like a Girl, In A Dream, Dhamma Brothers, Project Kashmir, Miss Representation, Connected and The Invisible War. Her works in production include: Wait for Me, Year of the Ambassador, One In A Billion, In Football We Trust, and Sugar Babies.
Writer, James S. Hirsch is a New York Times best-selling author and a former reporter for the Times and the Wall Street Journal. In addition to WILLIE MAYS: THE LIFE, THE LEGEND, Hirsch wrote CHEATING DESTINY: LIVING WITH DIABETES, AMERICA’S BIGGEST EPIDEMIC. He has lived with type 1 diabetes for over 30 years and lives in the Boston area with his wife, Sheryl, and their children, Amanda and Garrett (who also has type 1).
Writer, Elizabeth Diggs is a playwright and Professor of Dramatic Writing at Tisch School of the Arts, New York University. Her plays have been produced off-Broadway in New York and in regional theatres across the country. For television, Liz wrote for the ground- breaking drama, St. Elsewhere. Her many awards include Guggenheim, NEA and Kennedy Center grants as well as the Los Angeles DramaLogue award for playwriting.
Editor and co-producer, Christine Siegel Elder is an Emmy-nominated editor who has had work shown on multiple broadcast networks. She worked for 5 years as an editor for ZOOM at WGBH in Boston, and edited the award-winning documentary KICK LIKE A GIRL, which premiered on HBO. She lives in Alabama with her husband, three dogs, and two cats.
Co-producer, Ann Marie Kreft she spent 17 years with her dad before he died of complications of type 1 diabetes. Years later, her own son was diagnosed with type 1 at age 7. At that point, she seized every opportunity to increase public awareness of diabetes and foster working relationships among the general public, the public health community, and the academic and clinical sectors in the Boston area and beyond.